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Java Basics Course

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This is the EXLskills free and open-source Java Basics Course. It guides learners via explanation, demonstration, and thorough practice, from no more than a basic understanding of Java, to a moderate level of essential coding proficiency.

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Primitive Data Types

Short

The short primitive datatype is another less commonly used integer-related datatype due to its limited range of -32,768 to 32,767. Let's glance at the example below showing the declaration and use of short.

ShortDataTypeExample.java

package exlcode;
public class ShortDataTypeExample {
// short can be any integer between -32768 and 32767
public static short exampleVariableOne = 100;
public static short exampleVariableTwo = -100;
public static short exampleVariableThree = 0;
public static void main(String[] args) {
System.out.println(exampleVariableOne);
System.out.println(exampleVariableTwo);
System.out.println(exampleVariableThree);
}
}

short functions similarly to int as it can only hold whole, non-decimal numbers. This datatype was commonly used when 16-bit computers were used, and are rarely used now as int has pretty much taken its place. However, short takes up about half the space of an int, so in a specific case when you are dealing with a large list of whole numbers, you may chose to use short to save space. With that being said, we will just use int for most of our programs.